Locust Moon comic store reopens on 40th and Chestnut

Penn students seeking Batman, Superman and Iron Man now won’t need to look any further than Locust Moon Comics on 40th and Chestnut streets.

The new comics store, which celebrated its grand opening two weeks ago, was previously located on 40th and Locust streets, but closed last fall.

Josh O’Neil and Chris Stevens, two of the three store owners, said the accessibility of the new location was one of the primary reasons for their move.

O’Neil said their purpose in re-opening the store was “to communicate comics to everybody,” and with their new location, they would be able to better serve Penn students and Philadelphians.

“There’s a Penn population and still a nice diversity in the neighborhood around us,” Stevens said, citing easy access from the store to the SEPTA station on 40th and Market streets.

In addition to its collection of comic and graphic novels, as well as films for rent and purchase, the store will feature a gallery with original works that will double as a movie screening room, where O’Neil and Stevens plan to show comic and cult films on a weekly basis.

Locust Moon will also begin publishing its own comics through the newly founded Locust Moon Press, whose first major production, a cartoon anthology named Once Upon a Time Machine, will debut this fall. The store will host a book release party on Oct. 10, with 15 to 20 of the anthology’s creators.

With the new changes, Stevens hopes to create “a store that’s inviting” for more than just comic fans. O’Neil believes that comics “should be like books, or movies, or music where everyone should like it.”

Rising Wharton sophomore Johnathan Wilson, a comic fan and member of Penn’s Harrison Anime Club, is excited for the store. Wilson wrote in an email that he is happy with the new location because “there was a place in Center City that I went to a few times during freshman year, but it was a bit out of the way so I didn’t go often.”

“Since Locust Moon is right near campus, it will be much easier to get my comic book fix,” he added. “It’s one thing to read comics online, but it’s way more fun to have a physical issue.”

Not only does O’Neil want the store to be a place for comic fans to gather, but he also wants it to be “a meeting place for all these different people who are interested in different kinds of art.”

Locust Moon is open 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days a week.

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